An archery arrow conventionally has a shaft having an arrow head or tip at one end, fletching adjacent its opposite end, and a nock at such opposite end which is adapted to accommodate a bowstring.
When an archer prepares to shoot an arrow from a bow he normally places the nocking point of the bowstring in the nock at the rear end of the arrow shaft, grips the nock end of the shaft between two of his fingers, draws the arrow rearwardly, thereby cocking the archery bow, and finally releases the arrow by relaxing his grip on the arrow shaft. The edges of the nock often are fairly sharp as a consequence of which repeated shooting of arrows can cause the archer""s fingers to be injured.
The possibility of injuring an archer""s fingers as a result of repeatedly shooting arrows has been recognized heretofore and a number of proposals have been made for overcoming the problem. Not all of the proposals have well received, however, for a number of reasons. For example, some protective devices have interfered with the manner in which the bowstring passes out of an arrow""s nock, thereby adversely affecting the accuracy of the flight of the arrow. Other protective devices have required an archer""s fingers to be spread apart such a distance that the ability to maintain a sufficiently secure grip on the arrow shaft is impaired. Other protective devices require locating the nock end of the arrow on the bowstring in a position which is not the best for accuracy.
An object of this invention is to provide a finger guard which overcomes the disadvantages referred to above.
A finger guard constructed according to the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a pair of identical members each of which has a cylindrical sleeve terminating at one end in an enlarged head having a radially extending, flat surface at the juncture of the sleeve, and an arcuately rounded or convex outer surface. An axial bore extends through the sleeve and the head for the accommodation of a bowstring. Each guard member preferably is molded from a rubbery, relatively stiff but deformable material having a high coefficient of friction.
The members comprising the guard device are used in pairs and fitted onto a bowstring in such manner that the head of one member confronts the head of the other member so that the convex surfaces of the heads may engage opposite sides of the nock end of an arrow shaft. The curvature of the arcuate surface of each head is such that, in response to the drawing back of an arrow interposed between the confronting heads, the heads may roll along the surface of the arrow shaft. The two adjacent heads of the protective members may be straddled by the archer""s index and middle fingers of one hand, thereby enabling the archer to impose sufficient compressive force on that portion of the arrow shaft which is between the heads as to provide a secure, highly frictional grip on the nock end of the arrow shaft.
When the archer decides to shoot the arrow he relieves the clamping force applied on the arrow shaft by the confronting heads of the two protective members, thereby enabling the arrow to be propelled forwardly.
Since the heads of the protective members are capable of rolling along the opposite sides of the arrow shaft, distortion of the protective members as the bow is cocked is minimized. Consequently, when the frictional force exerted by the protective members on the arrow is relieved, deflection of the arrow due to the recovery from distortion of the protective members also is minimized.
During use of the protective device the archer""s fingers will rest upon the flat surfaces of the heads rather than on the arrow shaft. The heads of the protective members thus will be interposed between the archer""s fingers and the arrow shaft at all times, thereby preventing engagement between the fingers and the shaft. Consequently, relative movement between the arrow and the archer""s fingers does not subject the latter to injury.